Tag Archives: kitchen rehab

When you are going over plans to do a kitchen rehab, consider also adding a pantry into your plans. So why is adding a pantry so important? Well, adding a pantry not only makes good sense, but it can work well within a functional layout dealing with your kitchen remodeling plans. This is because a pantry can hold all the foods which you use most frequently. It’s also an excellent place to stockpile food for an emergency situation such as a job layoff or a natural disaster. Another reason too is its sheer convenience. Just imagine having everything you need at your fingertips and not having to go to the grocery store every time you need an ingredient you thought you already had. But with a pantry, you know what you have or don’t have.

Where to put the pantry

You may be surprised at the places that you can put a panty. First, when doing a kitchen rehab, a pantry can be added to an area where there would be wasted space. Or perhaps, instead of having broom closet, enlarge it and make it a pantry instead. But there are other places that can be used for smaller pantries for extra storage:

A small pantry can be built on a basement landing. You would leave the drywall off on the wall not facing the stairs and just add shelves.

An unused closet can be an excellent pantry by adding shelves on the walls and racks on the door. The door racks can hold aluminum foil, plastic wrap, storage, garbage bags and things of this nature.

Under the stairs is another great location for a small pantry. You can store canned or bulky dry goods which will give you more space in your kitchen pantry here.

What type of goods should I store in my pantry?

This is a matter of personal preference, but there are some basics you should always have on hand:

There are many ways to make your kitchen your own when planning a kitchen rehab. Beautiful custom cabinets are usually the first item on the remodeling agenda so you can start here. You can have cabinets designed to suit whatever needs you have and also made to your specifications. Even clear down to the specially designed spice rack hanging to the left of your stove.

Also, because a kitchen can be an expression of you, don’t be afraid to put your personality into it. You can mix styles and unique features which are all you if you do this. So maybe you want a double-decker pot drawer or a vegetable bin which is ventilated, cool and dark. Or how about installing a cutting board which you can pull out over a garbage bin which then saves messes from collecting on the counter. Just cut up what needs cut and brush the remaining garbage right into the garbage can.

Too, walls can be another way to express your personal taste. You can decide to use wallpaper or paint; the color and patterns are all you. You want to keep in mind easy care and cleanup though. Too, use colors that inspire you or colors from places you’ve been. Maybe you enjoy the ocean as an example. Well you could hang up a fishing net complete with seashells and a starfish as a background wall. Or perhaps you’re more country and want the rough knothole barn look, complete with window boxes for fresh easy to reach herbs.

If the high tech streamlined look is more you, install stainless steel appliances and glass surfaces with an island in the middle for cooking and eating. To complete the look, industrial light fixtures for that clean techno appearance are good. Or maybe a more country niche is what you’re about with roses and flowers everywhere. Or fluffy curtains at the windows, old fashioned wooden kitchen table and butcher block counters. Perhaps, an open faced jelly closet in your kitchen with your best china on display as well as jelly glasses on your window sill is you.

A kitchen can be an extension of you and the style or styles you enjoy. When deciding on a kitchen rehab, don’t be afraid to put what you want in your kitchen.

You own a turn-of-the-century home and you love it. However; the kitchen needs to be updated, but not changed too much to keep its charm. Is this possible? With the right contractor, a kitchen rehab that will preserve the heritage look of your home; yet update it, is possible.

One of the first things worked on in this is usually the kitchen cabinets. To start here, you can have your cupboards redone by having them redoored. Redooring is when you have the doors and drawer fronts of your present cabinets replaced where they will still match the cabinet boxes which are already in your kitchen. Also, the hinges can be replaced as well as the doorknobs or pulls which will complete the look you’re searching for. Then when done, your kitchen can still have the unique features of the old world charm of your cabinets, but enhanced.

Another option for kitchen rehab is to use what is already there. Perhaps you have original wood floors underneath the tiles in the kitchen. Removing the old tile and refinishing the floors can bring back the era gone by look. Or maybe you have a ceiling beam that you want highlighted which has aged graciously. Also, have you checked underneath the paneling? You could have an interior brick wall with a fireplace behind it and not even know it. Wouldn’t that make a lovely accent to your kitchen?

Since pantries were used heavily in older homes, you could have a working pantry. You could have it installed in a space which isn’t used or even replace a large kitchen cupboard area. Instead of a regular door on the pantry too, you could have an old fashioned screen door installed. This would give it a back home country charm if that’s what you’re looking for.

Working with what you already have and making improvements where needed is also economical. You can incorporate the old while keeping the old and give your kitchen a special and unique look which is all your own. By having refurbished cabinets, reclaiming the tile floor and exposing that old wooden beam, your kitchen is then both unique and charming.